Pistol with means actuating the barrel latch and setting the trigger mechanism and safety

ABSTRACT

A PISTOL HAVING A HORN ASSOCIATED WITH THE TRIGGER GUARD FOR OPENING THE BREECH AND HAVING SEPARATE MEANS FOR LOCKING THE TRIGGER AND COCKING THE HAMMER.

w. A. CENTER 3,561,149 PISTOL WITH MEANS ACTUATING THE BARREL LATCH ANDSETTING Feb. 9, 1971 THE TRIGGER MECHANISM AND SAFETY 3 Sheets$heet 1Filed Oct.

3 T E NV mm A m R w N MW l Ww w. A. CENTER 3,561,149 PISTOL WITH MEANSACTUATING THE BARREL LATCH AND SETTING Feb. 9, 1971 THE TRIGGERMECHANISM AND SAFETY 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 9, 1968 Feb. 9, 1971 w.A. CENTER 3,561,149

PISTOL WITH MEANS ACTUATING THE BARREL LATCH AND SETTING THE TRIGGERMECHANISM AND SAFETY 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Oct.

United States Patent Otfim Patented Feb. 9, 1971 U.S. Cl. 4 2-41 9Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A pistol having a horn associated withthe trigger guard for opening the breech and having separate means forlocking the trigger and cocking the hammer.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In designing a pistol for very accurateshooting, as in target shooting and the shooting of woodchucks and thelike, it is common practice to manufacture the pistol as a single shotdevice. When a long bore is desired for accuracy in shooting, suchpistols have always been very long and unwieldy. Furthermore, theopening of the breech has always required the use of the hand notholding the gun; this makes it awkward for this hand also to be used forinserting a new cartridge. In the case of most pistols, there has alwaysbeen the danger of the hammer falling and firing the cartridge beforethe breech is entirely closed. There is also the problem that, if thethumb slips off the hammer in cocking, the pistol can fire accidently.On the other hand, it is desirable that the trigger mechanism be inready position and awaiting only the cocking of the hammer to be readyfor firing. These and other difiiculties experienced with the prior artdevices have been obviated in a novel manner by the present invention.

It is, therefore, an outstanding object of the invention to provide apistol which, in one manual operation, permits the lifting of a hingedtrigger guard up into the receiver, sets the trigger, retracts the boltallowing the action to open for loading, and activates a safety.

Another object of this invention is the provision of a single shotpistol whose breech can be opened with the same hand which holds thegun.

A further object of the present invention is the pro- Vision of a pistolhaving a unique safety device which automatically separates the hammernose from the firing pins and locks the hammer in a safe position uponbreaking the action for loading or unloading.

It is another object of the instant invention to provide a pistol inwhich the trigger is locked and the hammer is cocked separately.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of a pistolhaving an efficient mechanism for the function and safe operation of afirearm having both interchangeable barrels and a variety of calibers soas to permit the use of rimless center-fire and rim-fire cartridges.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a pistol having ahammer nose which rotates and locks in position upon manual selectionpermitting the selective striking of either of two separate firing pinshoused in a standing breech of the receiver.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a pistol of a veryversatile variety including ready interchange of various caliber barrelsplus adaptability to both rim-fire and center-fire cartridges.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of a pistolhaving a long barrel without the gun itself being excessively long.

Another object of the invention is to provide a singleshot pistol wheregas losses are maintained at a minimum.

With these and other objects in view, as will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art, the invention resides in the combination of partsset forth in the specification and covered by the claims appendedhereto.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In general, the invention relates to a pistolhaving a receiver, having a barrel pivotally connected to the receiverfor movement on occasion from closed to open position, having a handlefastened to the receiver, and having a trigger guard pivotally attachedto the receiver with a horn extending toward the handle in position tobe pulled upwardly by a hand grasping the handle. Means are providedoperative, when the horn is pulled upwardly, to allow the barrel topivot relative to the receiver from closed to open position. Inaddition, the pistol is provided with a hammer mounted on the receiverwith releasable means locking the barrel in the first position and asafety operative when the said means is released to prevent the hammerfrom touching a cartridge until the hammer is subsequently cocked.Furthermore, the pistol is provided with a trigger mechanism mounted inthe receiver and means are provided assuring that the hammer can becocked and the trigger mechanism can be locked separately.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The character of the invention,however, may be best understood by reference to one of its structuralforms, as illustrated by the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a pistol embodying the principlesof the present invention,

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the pistol slightly angled to show part of thefront side,

FIG. 3 is an end elevational view of the pistol with the barrel slightlyraised to show the relationship of the parts,

FIG. 4 is an exploded view showing the components of the pistol, and

FIGS. 5, 6, and 7 show various conditions of the elements of the pistolduring a cycle of operation.

Referring first to FIGS. 1, 2, and 3, which best show the generalfeatures of the invention, it can be seen that the pistol, indicatedgenerally by the reference numeral 1, comprises a receiver 10 to whichis attached a barrel assembly 70. To the back end of the receiver isattached a handle or grip 45. Forwardly of the handle is located thetrigger guard 2 within which resides the trigger 3. Forwardly of thereceiver and underlying the barrel assembly is a forend. The barrel isprovided with a front sight 5 at its outer end and, at the inner endoverlying the receiver, it is provided with a rear sight housing 6. Asis evident in the drawings, the barrel is of tapered octagonalcross-section. The grip 45 is hand fitted with a thumb pad for use inaccurate shooting.

Referring to FIG. 4, it can be seen that the barrel assembly is providedwith a cartridge chamber 11 underlying which is a slot 30 in which isslidably mounted an extractor 12. Mounted on the top rear of the barrelassembly is the rear sight housing 6 in which is mounted the rear sightblade 7. The housing is fastened on the top of the barrel assembly bymeans of rear sight screws 41 and a windage-adjusting screw 39 extendslaterally through the housing and is locked in place by a snap spring54. An elevation adjusting screw 40 is mounted in the rear sight blade 7and the rear sight is maintained in its upper position by means of anelevating spring 33. The forend 44 is made in two parts which lie oneither side of the receiver 10 and their upper edges are fastened to theforend catch 57 which is screwed in place by means of cap screws 43.Extending out of the forend catch 57 is a forend lug 9 and a dove-taillock 60. Finally, a forend catch plunger 55 is located in the catch 57and is provided with a spring 63, while a pin 61 extends transverselythrough the catch.

Located in a suitable bore in the receiver 10 is a cylindrical firingpin bushing carrying the two pins and 15A, the pin 15 being a rim-firefiring pin and the pin 15A being a center-fire firing pin. The pins areprovided with suitable springs 26. A stop pin 69 is associated in thebarrel assembly with the extractor 12 and a hinge pin 18 locks thebarrel assembly 70 in the receiver 10 and allows for hinged or swingingaction relative thereto. Above and to the right of the receiver 10 isshown the hammer which is hingedly located in a recess in the receiverand locked in place by a pin 59. Associated with the hammer 4 is ahammer nose 50 which is provided with a spring 51 and with hammer nosedetents 52. A wire spring 24 biases the hammer 4 toward a forwardposition. The bolt 13 is formed to slide in a suitable transverse slot21 formed in the barrel assembly and is provided with a spring 65 whichbiases it outwardly toward engagement with a lip on the receiver. Aroller 58 lies in a suitable groove on the underside of the bolt 13 towithdraw the bolt from engagement with the receiver to permit opening ofthe breech; that is to say, swinging of the barrel assembly 70 about thepin 18 as a hinge point. A bushing screw 16 is provided to hold thefiring pin bushing in place in the receiver 10. The right-hand or rearside of the receiver 10 is provided with a threaded peg to which thegrip 45 is attached. The two are locked in place by use of a long bolt35 and its washer 34. Finally, at the lower end of the grip, it isprovided with a suitable grip cap 47 held in place by screws 42. Thetrigger guard 2 is held in the receiver and is provided in its upperportion with two ears 31 adapted on engagement to engage the enlargedends of the roller 58. At the same time, the trigger guard is providedwith a horn 32 which extends backwardly toward the grip 45 in positionto be engaged by the shooters finger. The trigger guard is pivotallyheld in place within the receiver by the guard pin 19 and, at the otherend, it is forked and slidable on a guard stop screw 38. It is biaseddownwardly by a spring 29. The trigger 3 is pivotally attached to thetrigger guard by means of the trigger pin 22 and engages a bar 17 whichis pivotally attached to the trigger guard by means of the bar pin 23and biased upwardly by a spring 28. A trigger return plunger 68 isassociated with the trigger guard and is spring-biased by means of aspring 27. Pivotally mounted in the receiver 10 is a sear 46 having afinger 46A, the pin serving to hinge the sear in its central portion anda sear spring 25 operating to hold it in biased condition while aplunger 56 assists in this operation. A safety 8 is slidably mounted inthe receiver and is biased upwardly by a safety spring 64. The rearwardface of the safety 8 is provided with a recess 37 adapted to be engagedby an abutment 48 on the front face of the hammer 4.

FIG. 5 shows the condition of the pistol 1 when the breech is open, thebarrel assembly 70 having been pivoted about the pin 18. A cartridge 49has been inserted in the chamber 11.. It will be noted that the bolt 13is in the outward position under the influence of the spring 65. It is,of course, out of engagement with the latch recess 62 associated withthe receiver 10. The ears 31 associated with the trigger guard 2 are notin engagement with the roller 58.

FIG. 6 shows what happens when the user pulls upwardly on the horn 32associated with the trigger guard. Pivoting of the trigger guard aboutthe pin 19 causes the ears 31 to strike the enlarged ends of the roller58. This carries the bolt 13 rearwardly against the spring pressure ofthe spring 65 and releases the outer end of the bolt from the latchrecess 62 of the receiver. On the other hand, when one rotates thebarrel assembly 70 about the pivot 18 to close the breech, the triggerguard 2 is forced downwardly by the spring 29 so that the ears 31,although they reside near the roller 58, engage it with a portion of itscam surface. This does not withdraw the bolt 13 from the latching recess62, so that the gun can be locked together. When this is done, thespring 25 pushes its plunger 56 downwardly so that the bar 17 is presseddownwardly toward a position where its sharp forward edge engages aridge 66 extending rearwardly of the trigger 3. This allows the searspring to push the sear back into a position where it can engage a notchon the ham mer 4 and hold the hammer in cocked position. The hammer inFIG. 6 is in the uncooked position, however, which means that the safety8 holds the hammer away from the firing pin bushing 14. In other words,the safety is in an upper position despite the attempt of the spring 64to push it downwardly.

Referring to FIG. 7, the condition of the gun is shown with the trigger3 locked against the bar 17 with the ears 31 well away from the roller58 so that the breech is definitely locked; then, with the safety 8released from the hammer 4, the hammer is now ready to be cocked. Thehammer, however, is resting against the firing pin bushing 14 and thesear 46 is simply in a neutral condition. In order to prepare the gunfor firing, it is necessary to cock the hammer 4 so that it makesengagement with the rear ridge on the sear 46. The spur or finger 46A onthe sear keeps the safety in the safe position until the trigger ispulled. Consequently, if the thumb slips off the hammer in cocking, thepistol will not fire.

The operation of the pistol will now be readily understood in view ofthe above description. The description will assume that the shooter isholding the pistol in his right hand.

LOADING (A) Holding the gun in a natural position, pull up on the horn32 of the trigger guard 2 until it comes to a definite .stop. Thisunlocks the bolt 13 from the latching recess 62 in the receiver andallows the barrel to swing open about the pin 18. This exposes thechamber 11. A quick, positive pull is better than a steady pull forquick and easy release of the locking mechanism. This manual operationby the user simultaneously performs many other important functions:

First, it swings open the barrel which activates the extractor 12 andstarts the shell from the chamber 11 for easy manual extraction.

Secondly, it slides the safety 8 between the hammer 4 and the receiver10, thus preventing any possible accidental firing of the gun while thesafety is engaged.

Thirdly, it engages the bar 17 and the trigger 3 preparatory to firing.It is important to remember that a complete travel of the trigger guard2 by pulling upwardly on the horn to a definite stop is necessary aftereach fall of the hammer regardless of Whether or not the gun has beenfired. This is because this action performs the other functionsmentioned above. If this complete manual operation is not performed, thetrigger and the bar 17 will not engage and it would be impossible tocock the hammer for firing.

(B) After placing a cartridge in the chamber 11, the barrel assembly 70is swung upwardly which closes the barrel and locks the bolt 13 againstthe latching recess 62 in the receiver.

FIRING (A) At this point, the hammer is down and needs only to be drawnbackwardly until engaged with the sear 46 to cock the hammer for firing.

(B) After cocking the hammer, if the shooter decides not to fire, thefollowing procedure can be practiced. With his thumb on the hammer 4, hepulls the trigger and steadily eases the hammer down with the thumbuntil it comes to a positive stop. It i important to keep the muzzlepointed in a safe direction at all times. Now,

in order to fire the gun, the complete travel of the trigger guard inthe upward motion is necessary to engage the bar 17 and the trigger toprepare the gun for firing.

(C) The grip 45 which, in the preferred embodiment, is made of maple andis hand-checkered, gives full support to the hand when firing the gun.The hand should be wrapped comfortably around the grip except for theindex finger which is used to pull the trigger. It is important that, atno time, should the user have his fingers around the trigger guard orhave the trigger guard resting on anything when firing.

SAFETY As has been explained above, the safety 8 is engaged on theupward stroke of the trigger guard upon the pulling on the horn 32. Justas soon as the hammer is started or pulled toward the rear, the safety 8slides out of position and the gun is ready for firing.

CHANGING BARRELS The present pistol is adapted for use with a number ofbarrels of different caliber. With the gun in its closed position, theforend grip 44 is snapped off by a downward pull. This reveals the hingepin 18. The gun is then opened by pulling upwardly on the horn 32 of thetrigger guard. This relieves pressure against the pin and the pin ismanually pushed out from either direction. The barrel assembly 70 isthen free to be removed from the reciver frame. To replace the barrel,the process is reversed.

POSITION OF HAMMER NOSE The present pistol is capable of accommodatingeither rim-fire or center-fire cartridges. The two firing pins 15 and15A, one above the other, are used and associated with the bushing 14.In the face of the hammer is the slotted offset hammer nose 50 which canbe rotated so that it will hit either the top firing pin or the lowerone. Detents 52 lock the hammer nose 50 in either of the selectedpositions.

TRIGGER ADJUSTMENT The trigger may be adjusted for let-oft travel by theuse of a screw in the top of the trigger guard. This is the screw 36shown in FIG. 4 and located in the trigger guard 2. It is important toremember that too light a trigger pull may cause premature firing.

SIGHT ADJUSTMENT (A) It is necessary at times to adjust the rear sightblade 7 to compensate for variations in individual holding or eyesight.In order to do this, all adjustments for windage and elevation must bemade at the rear sight, since the front sight is fixed. Adjustment ismade by moving the rear sight in the direction in which the user wishesthe group on the target to move. If the group must be higher, oneelevates the rear sight; if the group must go to the right, the rearsight must be moved to the right, and so forth. Now, to elevate the rearsight, one turns the top screw 40 left counter-clockwise; to drop therear sight, one turns the top screw 40 to the right clockwise. To movethe rear sight to the right, one turns the windage screw 39 to the leftcounter-clockwise; and to move the rear sight to the left, one turns thesight side screw 39 to the right, that is to say, clockwise.

The action of the safety 8 can best be described by observing FIG. 6.When the user pulls up on the horn 32, a portion of the trigger guard 2engages the bottom of the safety 8 which is normally pushed downwardlyby its spring 64. Now, the upward movement of the safety 8, eventually,causes the engagement of the abutment 48 on the front of the hammer withthe recess 37 on the rear surface of the safety 8. The safety stays upin that position and holds the hammer 4 away from the firing pins untilthe hammer 4 is cocked, and then the spring 64 acts to push the safetyback down again, so

that it is out of the way of the forward action of the hammer.

It is also interesting to note that the upper movement of the triggerguard 2, by pulling on the horn 32, causes the trigger 3 to engage theforward edge of the bar 17. This locks the triger. When the triger ispulled, of course, the bar is released and its spring throws itupwardly, so it contacts the front portion of the sear 46 which causesthe sear to rock and to disengage the hammer 4, so that the hammer isable to rotate forwardly under the impetus of its spring 24.

It can be seen, then, that the present apparatus provides a pistol whichincludes a single manual motion for lifting the hinge trigger guard upinto the receiver and, simul taneously, accomplishing (a) the unlockingof the pistol by forcing the bolt into a barrel lug, (b) the setting ofthe trigger, and (c) the engaging of the safety in its safe positionwith the hammer and keeping it so engaged until the hammer is cooked andthe safety is able to return automatically to the off position. Thepresent pistol is provided with a spring-loaded extractor which permitsthe use of rimless cartridges in a break-open type action. It has ahammer nose which rotates and locks in position upon manual selectionpermitting the selective striking of either of two separate firing pinshoused in the standing breech of the receiver. The pistol includes aunique safety device which automatically separates the hammer nose fromthe firing pins and locks the hammer in a safe position upon breakingthe action for loading or unloading, and this safety remains in the onposition until the hammer is cocked and then returns automatically tothe off position. Furthermore, in the event the hinge trigger guard isactivated inadvertently when the hammer is cocked for firing, the safetywill automatically move upwardly to the safe position, therebypreventing any possible accidental discharge of the firearm.

It is obvious that minor changes may be made in the form andconstruction of the invention without departing from the material spiritthereof. It is not, however, desired to confine the invention to theexact form herein shown and described, but it is desired to include allsuch as properly come within the scope claimed.

The invention having been thus described, what is claimed as new anddesired to secure by Letters Patent 1. A pistol, comprising (a) areceiver,

(b) a barrel assembly pivotally connected to the receiver for movementon occasion from closed to open position,

(c) a handle fastened to the receiver,

((1) a trigger guard pivotally attached to the receiver and having ahorn extending toward the handle in position to be pulled upwardly by ahand grasping the handle, and

(e) means operative when the horn is pulled upwardly to allow the barrelto pivot relative to the receiver from closed to open position.

2. A pistol as recited in claim 1, wherein the said means includes anear which extends from the trigger guard into the receiver and engageson occasion a roller which is mounted in the barrel assembly and whichis connected to a spring-loaded bolt which normally engages a latchrecess in the receiver and prevents pivotal movement of the barrelassembly relative to the receiver.

3. A pistol as recited in claim 1, wherein the trigger guard ispivotally attached at its forward portion to the receiver and slidableat its rearward portion on a stop bolt and wherein a coil spring on thebolt maintains the guard outwardly of the receiver.

4. A pistol, comprising (a) a receiver,

(b) a barrel pivotally mounted on the receiver for 7 movement onoccasion from closed to open position,

() a hammer mounted on the receiver,

(d) releasable means locking the barrel in the first position, and

(e) a safety operative when the said means is released to prevent thehammer from firing a cartridge until the hammer is subsequently cocked.

5. A pistol as recited in claim 4, wherein the safety consists of avertically-slidable plate having a recess on its rear surface adapted toengage an abutment on the front face of the hammer, wherein a springnormally maintains the plate in a lower position, and wherein when thebarrel is released the plate is pushed upwardly to permit the abutmentand recess to engage and hold the plate in an upper position.

6. A pistol as recited in claim 5, wherein the cocking of the hammerwithdraws the abutment from the recess and allows the plate to drop intoits lower position.

7. A pistol, comprising (a) a receiver,

(b) a barrel pivotally mounted on the receiver for movement on occasionfrom closed to open position,

(c) a hammer mounted on the receiver,

:(d) a trigger mechanism mounted in the receiver, and

(e) means assuring that the hammer be cocked and the trigger mechanismbe locked separately.

8. A pistol as recited in claim 7, wherein the trigger mechanismincludes a pivoted trigger having a lip which engages one end of apivoted bar, wherein the bar is spring-biased to rotate upon actuationof the trigger and to strike a pivoted sear and to release the hammer,and wherein the cocking of the hammer by engagement with the sear isentirely independent of the locking of the trigger by engagement withthe bar.

9. A pistol, comprising (a) a receiver,

(b) a barrel pivotally connected to the receiver for movement onoccasion from closed to open position,

(c) a handle fastened to the receiver,

(d) a hammer mounted on the receiver,

(e) a trigger mechanism mounted in the receiver,

(f) a triggerguard pivotally attached to the receiver and having a hornextending toward the handle in position to be pulled upwardly by a handgrasping the handle,

(g) means operative when the horn is pulled upwardly to allow the barrelto pivot relative to the receiver from closed to open position.

(h) releasable means locking the barrel in the first position,

(i) a safety operative when the said means is released to prevent thehammer from touching a cartridge until the hammer is subsequentlycocked, and

(j) means assuring that the hammer be cocked and the trigger mechanismbe locked separately.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 444,574 1/1891 Blachon et a142--40 917,045 4/1909 Gates 4266 1,562,501 11/1925 Frommer 42-443,157,958 11/1964 Lewis 42-66 BENJAMIN A. BORCHELT, Primary Examiner C.T. JORDAN, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R.

